How to delete user accounts in Windows 10 (updated October 2018)

One of the great things that makes Windows so great is that it can be shared with multiple people who each have their own sign-in credentials, files, apps, and settings. Adding users is easy, but what if you need to remove someone who doesn’t use it anymore? Luckily, that’s easy, too.

The first thing you’re going to do is open the Settings app. The quickest way to do this is by hitting the Start button (that’s the Windows logo at the bottom left of the screen). From the Start menu, hit the settings gear, which will take you straight to the Settings app.

Once you’re in the settings app, select the Accounts option.

From the left-side menu, hit Family & other users. This will take you to your family members associated with your Microsoft account with or without an account on your PC, as well as other users that aren’t in your Microsoft family list who have their own login credentials. In our example, we’re going to remove the user named “Cody.” Just select the user and hit remove.

To make sure you’re certain you want to remove the account and all of its files, apps, and settings, Windows will display a pop-up window to ask you to verify your intent on removing the user. If you’re sure, go ahead and hit Delete account and data.

The account will be removed, and all offline files and apps will be removed from the device. If the user had a Microsoft account, this won’t delete anything stored on the cloud, like OneDrive files, emails, personalization settings, purchases, or anything Cortana knows about you.